The National Mary Potter Club Recognized with 2021 Progressive Architecture Award
We are honored to announce the National Mary Potter Club has been recognized by the 68th Annual Progressive Architecture Awards (P/A). Since its inception in 1954, this distinguished awards program has annually recognized exceptional design projects from around the globe. This year’s jury, which included notable architects and leaders Jeanne Gang, Koray Duman, and Daimian Hines, focused on projects that elevated the essential needs of communities.
As juror Daimian Hines said of the design for revitalized Mary Potter Club, "this is a very compact project with the potential to be transformational by adding a few interventions to reinforce a sense of place and create a new cultural center."
The Mary Potter Academy was founded in Oxford, North Carolina by Dr. George Shaw in 1888 as a boarding school for African American children. Historically, the school was the epicenter for the black community during the Jim Crow and segregation periods, providing a nurturing, communal environment, generating a strong black middle class, and serving as the incubator for many black leaders. Starting with desegregation in the 1970s, the campus gradually eroded and dwindled as resources, funding, faculty, and students were pulled to other schools. By the 21st century, only three buildings—each in various stages of disrepair—from the original campus remained.
The revitalized complex will welcome multiple generations and races to gather, discuss, collaborate, engage, and celebrate. Rather than approaching each building as separate entities with duplicating uses, the design embraces the collective. Programs capable of accommodating a variety of groups and activities are distributed to create an interwoven campus and reestablish a shared sense of community and understanding of the Mary Potter Academy’s vital legacy.
In response to the award, EVOKE Cofounder, Principal, and Oxford-native Edwin Harris said, “I’m delighted to see this meaningful, impactful project recognized. It demonstrates that good design for ALL communities matters, and it acknowledges the history, legacy, and future of the Mary Potter Academy. We are excited to help them in their continued journey and look forward to seeing this transformation come to life.”
